It seems to me that things always get pretty silly around these parts whenever festivals comes around. Last year it was that the phrase 'Deeparaya' was sinful, and this year you're not to wish anyone either. Never mind that the two celebrations, Durga Pooja and Lakshmi Pooja are small scale celebrations that Malaysians generally don't wish their Hindu brethren, some people have used the festival's deity worship to actually bulk up the argument as to why Muslims should not wish Hindu's Happy Divali. There it goes once again, psycho xenophobic sentiments in the heartland of Malaysia, the country I call home.
The thing about this whole debacle is that, the Muslims at home are becoming extremely sensitive and so are the non-Muslims, I guess the lid is actively moving open from the bubbling pot? But, it would be nice if you read the papers everyday with a much more open mind, and explore how the news is written and the things that happen which people don't take notice of. Najah tells me of the Datuk that buys up all the permits behind Masjid India and blocks the entrance to their stalls, last year I read in the papers about some big wig's son buying the permits then selling them, overpriced of course, to the traders.
It's all simple economics. It's not the clash of civilizations as the fire and brimstone extremists (of all religions) would like to believe, it's the powers that be, manufacturing a climate of fear and suspicion to further their own economic interests. I refuse to get into religious debates these days, or racial debates because there is no point. The purists believe that it's racism, or xenophobia, but these are all simply symptoms of a country rife with corruption and the upward trajectory of the elite in getting what they want. The sad thing is the ASLI report was probably right, but that large 40 percent number probably can't be attributed to the pakcik's and makcik's in the kampung slaving to make ends meet.
So here's the damning email, just for you to digest:
Tuan/puan warga kerja Takaful Malaysia yang dihormati,
Marhaban Ramadhan, semoga kita semua mendapat manfaat dan keberkatan
daripada bulan yang mulia ini.
Sebagaimana yang tuan/puan sedia maklum bahawa selain dari perayaan
Aidil Fitri yang akan disambut oleh umat Islam pada bulan ini, penganut
agama indu juga merayakan 3 perayaan mereka seperti yang disebut dalam
subjek di atas.
Sukacita saya ingin maklumkan bahawa kakitangan Takaful Malaysia
perlu berhati-hati dengan ungkapan ucap selamat sempena perayaan tertentu
yang selain daripada perayaan yang terdapat dalam Islam. Ucap selamat
tersebut mestilah diteliti impilikasinya terutama yang melibatkan hukum dan
akidah.
Antaranya ialah ucap selamat Happy Durga Pooja atau Durga Pooja
Greetings. Ia bermakna selamat menyambut hari kebesaran Dewi Durga. Sambutan ini
adalah festival yang paling penting bagi orang-orang Hindu. Ia menandakan
ketaatan dan kepatuhan kepada Dewi Durga yang dianggap sebagai Mother
of the Universe. Ia disambut oleh oleh penganut agama Hindu pada
hari-hari berikut:
29 Sept 2006 - Durga Pooja - Saptami
30 Sept 2006 - Durga Pooja - Mahastami
01 Okt 2006 - Durga Pooja - Navami
02 Okt 2006 - Dussehra - Vijaya Dasami
Untuk makluman tuan/puan, Durga Pooja mengikut kepercayaan penganut
agama hindu adalah tuhan dewi yang mempunyai tangan yang banyak dan
bersilang yang biasanya kelihatan di kuil-kuil hindu.
Antaranya lagi ialah ucap selamat Happy Deepavali atau lebih dikenali
di Benua Kecil India dengan nama Happy Diwali. Deepavali atau Diwali
menandakan kemenangan kebaikan mengatasi kejahatan. Ia berkaitan
dengan agama hindu juga di mana mitosnya bagi penganut agama hindu di
Malaysia ialah tuhan agama hindu yang bernama Krishna telah membunuh
Narakasura.
Lalu penganut agama hindu merayakan kemenangan ini dengan menyalakan
lampu serta berpesta. Manakala mitos di Benua Kecil India pula ialah
kemenangan Ramayana membunuh Ravana.
Mengikut kepercayaan hindu, sempena perayaan deepavali mereka akan
menerangi rumah mereka dengan cahaya kerana dewi Lakshmi iaitu dewi
kekayaan akan berkunjung ke rumah yang diterangi cahaya dan akan
memberkati keluarga terbabit. Oleh itu perayaan Lakshmi Pooja akan diadakan 2
hari sebelum deepavali untuk mendapatkan rezeki dan berkat yang berganda.
Setelah meneliti ketiga-tiga perayaan tadi maka jelaslah ianya ada
kaitan secara langsung dengan kepercayaan agama hindu. Seluruh kakitangan
Malaysia adalah dilarang untuk mengucapkan ucap selamat kepada ketiga perayaan
di atas dan lain-lain lagi yang sepertinya kerana ianya boleh
menyebabkan berlakunya syirik. Budaya korporat Takaful Malaysia yang bersendikan
Syariat tidak mengizinkan ianya berlaku sekalipun untuk pelanggan yang beragama hindu atau agama lain yang mana ucap selamat tadi membabitkan tuhan mereka. Ucapan Happy Durga Pooja, Happy Lakshmi Pooja dan Happy Deepavali seolah-olah mengucap selamat buat tuhan hindu yang bernama Durga, Laksmi dan Krishna. Dan ianya jelas bertentangan dengan akidah Islam.
Allah berfirman dalam surah ali-'Imran ayat 18 yang bermaksud: "Allah
telah bersaksi bahawa tiada tuhan selain Dia". Dalam surah Muhammad ayat 1
Allah berfirman yang bermaksud: "Maka ketahuilah bahawa tiada tuhan selain
Allah".
Bagi mereka yang telah terlanjur mengucap selamat kepada penganut
hindu seperti ketiga-tiga greetings di atas maka hendaklah segera bertaubat
dan tidak mengulanginya lagi pada masa-masa akan datang.
Semoga usaha kita untuk mengamalkan Syariat sebagai budaya korporat
Takaful Malaysia diberkati Allah dan mencapai kejayaan yang kita harapkan.
Sekian untuk makluman. Terima kasih.
م?سلاو
i-CARE (integrity – Customer Focus, Accountability, Respect, Entrepreneurship) Strengthening the Organization Culture towards a World Class Organization - The TAKAFUL MALAYSIA Way MOHD FAUZI MUSTAFFA
Shariah Dept
CEO's Office
Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad (TAKAFUL MALAYSIA)
Level 10, Main Block
Dataran Kewangan Darul Takaful
No.4, Jalan Sultan Sulaiman
50000 Kuala Lumpur
As of Monday, from their
website:
Takaful Malaysia would like to stress that the contents and views of the email regarding the Deepavali Greetings do not in any way represent the views of Takaful Malaysia.
As per Takaful Malaysia’s previous statement on the issue, we would like to apologise for any confusion and ill-feelings that may have arose from the email. Takaful Malaysia wishes that this issue has been clarified and solved following the views attributed to Sahibul Samahah Perak State Mufti and Selangor Darul Ehsan State Mufti as reported by The New Straits Times on 15th October 2006 (It’s no sin to say Happy Deepavali).
Last but not least, Takaful Malaysia would also like to take this opportunity to wish all Malaysians of Hindu faith a very Happy Deepavali.
Thank you.
My correspondence with Najah, who is Muslim and manages to explain a lot of what is going on to me most of the time, without judgement or compulsion:
Najah gets to be green and I'm plain ol' black.
I guess there could be a better way to deal with this. Actually, this whole idea of being careful about religious holiday greetings is not new - and it's not confined to Muslims. When I was in the states, we were told by our imams that when in doubt, just wish happy holidays - you don't have to be specific and by wishing someone to have a happy holiday, whether it's Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever, conveys our good wishes for them. I knew Jewish people who observed the same practice.Personally, I think the various sides of the religious 'divide' in Malaysia have become overly paranoid and sensitive. Granted that there are on-going inter-religious debacles that continues to fuel this paranoia, but what I think will help with dealing with the big issues in the long run is how we deal with the little ones. Like this. A good compromise, to me, is a Happy Holiday wish. Tak payah la drag the issue every year, at every occasion.Then I got all amped up (see what this stuff does to you!) and replied:
Why should there be a compromise? Do you think Hindus believe in syirik? That their whole religion is syirik? Who died and made these people be able to condemn the religions of others? Why is my religion better than yours, vice versa? Don't tell me you're not going to wish someone Happy Divali this year Naj? Because you think their religion and what it stands for is syirik?
It's about not even wishing them a happy holiday, because their holiday is crap. That's the tone of this message. And also, NO ONE wished any Hindu friends I know Happy Doorga or Lakshmi, it's not one of the bigger celebrations, and most Hindus don't wish each other. It was used to justify wishing Happy Divali, which is simply a celebration of the triumph of good over evil.
Muslims all over the world got upset over the Pope's comments about the prophet (pbuh), Malaysian Muslims included, also Article 11 you name it. This is similar. It's about incitement... and if the same memo went around this time, saying something about Muslims, you can be sure the situation would be worse.
I just don't understand why if the Hindus get hit like this it's not that big a deal. But if it were to happen to the Muslims, there would be an uproar. It's just not fair that we continue to malign other religions, at the sake of protecting our own. It's becoming ridiculous. Hindu temples getting destroyed with a complete and total media blackout. It's really getting bad here and this email is an example, and the guy still having his job after saying something like this is unacceptable. And Malaysians, Muslims included that stand by this dissapoint me. We're all too bloody compliant.
I'm going to send him a hari raya card, the holier than thou nincompoop! We call it turning the other cheek in Christianity.
Then Najah replied, much more coherently than I:
First and foremost, the whole concept of syirik encompasses guarding one's faith, and it's more than just believing in Allah (or rather saying that you do) but also toeing the line when it comes to the rules. I wouldn't wish someone Happy Divali in those words because that is not what I believe, but the past, I have wished my Hindu friends in some form or other.
Going back to syirik, we all believe what we believe, and there's a reason for that. Why do you believe in Christianity and not Islam? Because one is more relevant to you than the other. And you live your life by it.
I don't agree with the approach the Muslims in Malaysia take on the greeting bit, as much as I don't agree with anyone who insists that ppl of other faiths should wish us well in the way we want them to wish us well. e.g. I'm happy if ppl want me to have a Happy Eid, I won't be too fussed over whether they wish me Eid Mubarak or Selamat Hari Raya (the latter actually being the more 'secular' greeting). Because at the end of the day, living with people of other faiths/races/nationalities is about compromise and understanding. That's what I do with my neighbour with the 2 dogs and 2 cats. I won't personally embrace the dog and cats, but I won't rat on them and deprive them of their right to own the dogs and cats.
Sorry to simplify this, I know that the experience of non-Muslims in Malaysia can't be reduced to one of pets, but how we live with each other can be related to neighbourliness. My comment about how there are sensitivities applies to both sides, Malays being sensitive about any comment about our religion - I think more out of a fear of losing the sacred Malay special rights than protecting Islam itself, and the non-Malays being sensitive because of the way they're increasingly feeling marginalised in their own homeland.
The solution to this is not to jump into the foray and get angry. Sending a card to the guy in the spirit you want to do it isn't turning the other cheek, not after that tit for tat comment. The way I see race relations in Malaysia, it will continue to escalate if all sides take a defensive position, though I do understand the need for non-Malays to do so. I remember talking to you abt this before, about how extremists on all sides are bred. The more you push, the more extreme the position someone who would otherwise be a moderate take.
To me (I can only say this personally), this isn't a big deal, because the Pope thing to me wasn't a big deal. The Danish cartoon thing was slightly more of a deal, but still something I attribute to a clash of civilisations (after all, these are the same people who have a political party to reduce the age of consent to 14 or something - pedophilia). I guess I'm a centrist at heart.
The bone I'd have to pick about this guy's email, which is after all the topic of this email, is the spirit in which he's written it. Guard our faiths. Period. Nothing about how one would join in the festivities without overstepping religious lines. That's the problem with Muslims in Malaysia, we're always told what we can't do, and not what we can do to the point that those who are 'careful' with their religion ends up staying on the side of caution. And I'm not talking about so-called liberal Muslimsl. I'm talking about people like me, who want to care more about the food I eat, or whether I can get in my 5 times a day prayers today, or whether my fast is more than just not eating and when I'm going to get my ass to Mekah for my Hajj.
I agree with you on how the uproars occur in Malaysia. It's small-minded and xenophobic. It's unfortunate our government (where do you think this guy got his material from?) orchestrates such perceptions, because the Malay on the street has better things to do, and more things to worry about than holiday greetings. Like whether we'll have water and electricity come Raya (my grandma's house).
End Note:
I guess to me, it boils down to the ownership and control of the press, the racialisation of politics in this country and the corruption of the so called government servants. People that we put into power, I certainly know who I won't be voting for in the next elections, but the question then remains, who do you vote for?
There are some small steps that we can take. Frowning upon bigoted statements like this and taking some sort of action is imperative. Indulging in debates with you middle-class friends and going to forums where everyone has the same opinion as you, is not, in my opinion, our best bet. Reading the newspapers, however convoluted and leaning to the status quo they may be, must always be an exercise in discretion, I guess. I see far too many people being infuriated by the wrong things. Even me, sometimes. I sit here and type up blog posts that are basically rants, and talk about serving the people outside my class... but where is it all going?
However, I still think of ways to go out there and do something for the larger population, because as time as shown us, it has never really been about our race, or our religion, but simply who has the most money, gets the most power. If ever there was a better time to start caring, it would be now.
The news reports:
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=15807
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/10/11/nation/15678321&sec=nation
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/10/11/nation/15678321&sec=nation
Interesting read:http://www.e-ulama.org/Artikel/Default.asp?mode=0&ID=160
